Folding chair



c. N. ALLERDING 1,815,643

FOLDING CHAIR Filed June 7, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 (luau ug- July 21,1931. c. N. ALLIERDING .FOLDING CHAIR Filed June 7. 1928 2 Shoots-Sheet2 Patented July 21 1931 nice 1 cnnrosn. Annn'nnms, or MANSFIELD, onioronnms CHAIR Application filed June 7,

This-invention relates generall to folding chairs, and more particularlyto one in which the back frame" and front legs are formed from a' singlepiece of material, (preferably bentwoody and the baek, front legs, rearlegsand the seat are pivotally connected on a common axis.

'The object of the present invention isto provide a=folding elrair,'having these features of construction; with a novel form of bracinmechanism which will materially add to the strength-ofthcchair as wholeand render the folding operations positive, eas andsaf'e, said brace-sbeing s positioned that all ordt nary danger of catching-the hands orclothing during the folding operation will be avoided.

Another object is to provide a folding chair embodying thesecharacteristic fea'tnres and in which the'parts shall be so united thatthe in openin and closing Operations of'the front and rear le s; andseat will be simultaneous, and furthermore that these simultaneousmovements ean'be had by actuating either the seat or the rear legs.

range these braces that the weight of a person upon the seat willproduce pull upon said braces-and keep them under tension at all times;and a'still further object is to provide a chair of such constructionthat when once openedit can be pushed around without clanger ofcollapsingor folding, as "the braces function to make a rigid chairwhether occu- 1 pied or vacant. Another object is to so arrange thesebraces that metal will be in contact with wo'odinstead of metal withmetal.

With these various objects in view, and certain others, which'willbecome apparent as thedescription proceeds, the inventionconsistsin'the'novel features of construction and in'the'manner of;arranging or combinin the va'rio-usparts, all of which will befullydescribed hereinafter and set forth in the appended claims.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification Fig. 1 is a sideview of the chair in open position; Fig. =2 is a front view in openposition; Fig. 3'is a front view in closed position; Fig, 4 is a sideview in closed osition and 5 is a detail sectional plan.

Anotherobject of the invention is to so ar- Serial No. 283,4t68.

. In carrying out my invention I preferably make the top of the back A,the side posts B and front legs C all in one piece, preferably of wood,the strip of wood of the proper length'being bent or arched. at itscentral portion and then having its opposite sides brought into parallelrelationto provide side posts and front legs of the chair. The oppositeortions of the, back and side members are grooved as shown at B, saidgrooves being inclined with reference to the front and rear faces of thesaid members, and fitting into these grooves are the side edges of athin wood back rest B curved rearwardly as shown to accommodate the backof a pen son, and also being curved upwardly from the bottom of eachside edge and downwardly from the top of each side edge.

This curvature of the back, together with the long'downward extensionsof the side edges of the back, causes the back to serve as a truss whenthe side edges are secured and this can be done by means of small metalplates B forced into the grooves with the edges of the wooden back restand nails B,

driven through the bent woodframe, edges of back rest and metal plates,the opposite ends of said metal plates being secured to the rear.

face of the back rest by small screws 13". Glue will of course be usedand in some instances the metal plates may be omitted and glue aloneused. The inclination of the grooves B sets the back at the proper anglewith reference to the seat to secure comfort to the occupant and alsomakes is possible to lessen the curvature of the back, withcorresponding reduction in the cost of manufacture. V

D, D indicate the rear legs, and E the seat, this seat being preferablyconstructed the The seat,

points, and working in these slots K is a connecting rod L to which areattached sustaining or brace members M, pivotally connected at theirupper ends to the seat adjacent the a rear ends or corners. It will benoted that these braces M are upon the inner sides of the rear legs andthe outer sides of the seat frame. Braces N are pivotally connected attheir forward ends to the inner sides of the front legs and at theirrear ends to the ends of the connecting rod L. The braces M and N arepreferably of the same length and also equal each in length to thedistance from its pivotal point to the seat or leg and to the pivotalpoint of the seat and legs.

in practice I prefer to place metal sleeves L upon the ends of the rodwithin the slots K for the purpose of reducing friction and also tospace the ends of the braces apart.

By this arrangement of bracing members, it will be noted that when thechair is opened and the seat is moved to a receiving position the rod Lis caused to slide upwardly in the slots in the rear legs, and at thesame time the lower ends of said rear legs are spread rearwardly. At thesame time the spreading position between the front and rear legs isbeing established, that is, all movements are simultaneous. The weightof a person upon the seat will place these braces under tension and theweight will be thrown upon' mainly the two pivot rods and the rearlegs,due to the fact that the connecting rod is slidable within the slots inthe rear legs and contacts with the upper ends of these slots in thefinal locked position. By this arrangement of the braces, they areplaced under tension lnstead of under compression, and furthermore theyare arranged entirely to the rear of the side posts and front legs. Thisis an advantage inasn'iuch as all dangrr of of ng the hands or clothingduring the folding operation is avoided. Furthermore, by having the second pivot rod slide in the grooves in the wooden legs and also arrangingthe braces upon opposite sides of the rear legs the metal parts arecontacting with wood instead of metal with the result that the foldingoperations are more easily accomplished and impairment from rustavoided.

In order to prevent the seat and rear legs moving beyond the pivotalpoint when folded and thus insure the easy opening operation. I providestop plates 0 upon the inner sides of the rear legs near the upper ends,said plates being angular in form, one portion of each plate beingsecured to the inner face of the rear leg and the other portionprojecting inwardly at right angles for contact with the appropriateside member of the seat frame when the chair is folded up, and ifdesired this portion of the angular plate can have its upper edge sopositioned that the seat frame will contact therewith when the seat isturned down and the chair opened, thus forming an additional support forthe seat.

I also prefer to have that portion of the stop plate which is secured tothe rear leg extended and apertured for the passage of the pivot rod.This helps to secure the plate and renders only the necessity of smallscrews or nuts for securing the plate.

As all of the parts open and close in unison, a very strong chair isprovided in its open position, and it may be pushed around over thefloor without danger of either set of legs folding up. This is a veryimportant featm-e, as in many of the folding chairs now in common usesuch advantages are not present.

l uri'hermore, by the arrangement herein shown and described it will notbe necessary to recess either the seat frame or the front legs in orderto accommodate these bracing members.

I am aware that it is old to unite the rear end of the seat frame andthe front and back legs by means of a single pivot rod and also providethese parts with suitable bracing links, and I therefore malie no claimfor such combination.

Having thus described my invention, what I I claim is 1. In a foldingchair, the combination with combined front legs and sides of rear legsand a seat all pivotally connected on a common axis, a connecting rodconnecting the rear logs adjacent their upper ends, brace membersconnecting the front legs and said connecting rod, brace membersconnecting the rear end of the seat and said connecting rod, saidconnecting rod having a sliding conncction with the rear legs.

2. In a folding chair, the combination with combined front legs andsides of rear legs and a seat all pivotally connected on a common axis,the seat being pivoted at a point in advance of its rear end, a rodconnecting the rear legs, brace members connecting said rod and the rearend of the seat, brace members connecting the front legs and said rod,said rod being slidable with reference to the rear legs, and meanscarried by said rear legs for guiding said rod in its sliding movementand sleeves surrounding said rod in said guiding meansv 7 e L 3. In afolding chair, the combination witl the combined front legs and sides,rear legs and seat, said seat being pivoted at a pointmasses 1 inadvance of its rear end to said front and rear legs, of a connecting rodslidably con nected with the rear legs, front brace members connectingthe front legs and connecting rod, rear brace members connect-ing therear end of the seat with the connecting rod, and sleeves surroundingsaid rod between the ends of the front and rear brace members.

A. A folding chair comprising a back, combined front legs and sides,rear legs and seat, said seat being pivoted at a point in advance of itsrear end to said front and rear legs, said rear legs havinglongitudinally arrange guide slots, a connecting rod movable in saidguide slots, sleeves upon said rod, and within the guide slots, frontbrace members connecting the front legs to the ends of the connectingrod, and rear brace members connecting the rear ends of the seat withsaid connecting rod.

5. A folding chair comprising combined side and front legs, rear legsand seat, the rear legs and seat having a common pivotal connection withthe front legs, said seat being pivoted at a point in advance of itsrear end, brace members connecting the front and rear legs and bracemembers connectingthe rear end of the seat with the rear legs, saidbrace members being connected to the rear legs at a common point andhaving a slidable and foldable connection with said legs.

6. A folding chair comprising in combination, combined front legs andsides, back legs a seat and a pivot rodcommon to said parts, the rearlegs being slotted longitudinally, a connecting rod slidable in saidslots, braces connecting the rear ends of the seat with said rod, andbraces connecting the front legs with said rod.

7. A folding chair comprising in combination, combined front legs andsides, back legs, seat, and a single pivot rod for said parts, theseatbeing pivoted at a point in advance of its rear end, a connectingrod slidably carried by the rear legs, braces connecting said rod withthe rear ends of the seat, and braces connecting said rod with the frontlegs below the pivot point of the front and rear legs and seat.

8. A folding chair comprising in combination, combined front legs andsides, back legs, seat and a single pivot rod for said parts, the seatbeing pivoted at a point in advance of its rear end, a connecting rodslidably carried by the rear legs, braces connecting the rear end of theseat with said rod upon the inner sides of the rear legs, and bracesconnecting the front legs with said rods upon the outer sides of saidrear f). A folding chair comprising in combination, combined front legsand sides, back legs, a seat and a pivot rod common to said parts, theseat being pivoted at a point in advance. of its? rear: "d, Tthe'reanilegs. being longitudinally 1 slotted,-a a cannecting; rodslid-able. in lslots, 'bracess connecting libe rear ends'of the seatwith said :connectingrod upon manner: sideslef thenrear legs 'andbraces. connecting the front 1 legs. with. said connecting rod upon theouter sides of said reanlgsf. l 1 i i 1 0.::AT folding chair.comprising: in coin bination, a .main frame having; spaced side memberswhose lower." portions L constitute legs andwhose upper portionsconstituteiback posts, a seat pivoted to said main frame and movabletoward and-away from said main frame, rear leg structure pivoted to saidmain frame, and movable toward and away from said main frame, meanscomprising a link connected to said main frame and rear leg structurefor limiting rearward movement of the latter, and means comprising alink connected to said rear leg structure and seat for limiting downwardmovement of the latter, said links having a common pivot slidablymounted in the rear leg structure.

11. A folding chair comprising in combination, a main frame havingspaced side members whose lower portions constitute legs, and whoseupper portions constitute. back posts, a seat pivoted to said main frameand movable toward and away from said main frame, rear legs pivoted tosaid main frame and movable toward and away from said main frame, a pairof links each con-' nected to a corresponding one of said side membersand to a corresponding one of said rear legs, for limiting rearwardmovement of the latter, and a pair of links each connected toa'corresp'onding one of said rear legs and to a corresponding side ofsaid seat for limiting downward movement of said seat, each of saidfirst mentioned pair of links having a pivot in common with acorresponding one of the second mentioned pair of links, the said commonpivots being slidably mounted in the rear leg structure.

12. A folding chair comprising in combination, a main frame havingspaced side members whose lower portions constitute legs; a seat pivotedon said main frame; rear legs pivoted to said main frame; tensionmembers connecting said rear legs and main frame for limiting rearwardmovement of said rear legs with respect to said main frame, and tensionmembers connecting said seat and rear legs for limiting downwardmovement of said seat,'and members slidably mounted on the rear legs andto which said tension members are pivotally connected.

13. A folding chair comprising in combination, a main frame whose lowerends constitute front legs of the chair, a seat pivoted intermediate itsends on said main frame, a pair of rear legs pivoted to said main frame,a sliding pivot in each rear leg, a pair 4 connected pivot, and

second me of links each to a corres Wardly of pivotallyconnected at oneend ponding side of said seat rearthe pivot of the latter and each atits opposite end to said sliding a second pair of links each conne endto a corresponding one of pivots to which the adjacent one mentionedlinks is connected, said ntioned links being each pivotally connected atits other end to a corresponding front leg of the chair.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature.

OLETUS N. ALLERDIN G.

nected at o the sliding of the first

